Harry Potter: Life After the Great War
by D.R.M.Collins
Summary: This is set about a month after the Battle of Hogwarts, life after Voldemorts downfall is sure to be different. Harry Ron Hermione decide to get jobs and settle into the new wizarding world, with new experiences entering their lives. Some good, some bad.
1. Chapter 1: Journey to the Diggle House

**Right people this story is about maybe a month or something after The Battle Of Hogwarts where, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys are at the Burrow for most of the story , whilst the month long celebrations are still going on. It starts with Harry and the Weasleys heading to another party on the Muggle train. Kingsley is still Minister for Magic and well you will find out alot more stuff as you read on. Im sorry if this is not up to JK Rowling standards ( though i doubt anything on this website is to be honest ) and if i get anything wrong in terms of events im sorry its just i really cannot be bothered to skim through all 7 books again and remember the little details that may contradict what im writing, although i have read each one a number of times so im guessing im going to be pretty accurate. Only one difference is made to the original story and that is that Fred Weasley never died, why have i decided to do this.**

**1) Without Fred, George just isnt as funny, they both complete each other and are a great double act.**

**2) I feel that JK wouldn't have killed him off if she was going to do another book, but because it was the last one she decided to add more grief with Fred and George being obvious fan favourites.**

**3) Also she already killed off some great characters in Lupin, Tonks ect, and i feel because my story takes place at the Weasleys' and other places with the Weasleys' having both of them just makes it feel more like the originals.**

**Anyway hope you like it. Also could you please review. I'd love to see what other people think, this is the first time I'v written a story since i was like 10. So review please.**

Harry was looking out of the window of the speeding train he was on, they were passing fields and farms now. There were large green hills and yellow daisy fields as far as he could see. Harry thought it was a very beautiful sight and much preferred it to the dark, hustle and bustle of the London Underground. He and the Weasleys' were travelling to the home of Dedalus Diggle who was holding one of many hundred parties to celebrate the great victory that was won at Hogwarts and the defeat of Lord Voldemort. Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Percy and Charlie were to get the Muggle train to Bristol, where they would meet Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill, and Ginny then they would get the details on how to get there, for none of them had been to the Diggle household apart from Mr and Mrs Weasley. As Harry gazed out of the window Ron and Charlie were deep in conversation about goings on at the Ministry whilst Fred and George were asleep, Percy was reading a book that Harry didn't see the name of.

"So is it true then, about that Common Welsh Green that attacked a Muggle village in Swansea, apparently it killed fifteen people and loads more were injured, it was in the Prophet?" asked Ron,

"Yes it is true, that's the third time in the past month that there has been reports of unprovoked dragon attacks, this is the first on Muggle land though. But Kingsley's trying his best to sort it out, he sent some wizards from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to Swansea to search for the dragon, and to modify the memory of the Muggles at the scene. I heard he sent Aurors to back them up too." replied Charlie, "That's all the Ministry needs, after You-Know-Who gone and the rounding up of the final Death Eaters, if dragons starting to get out of hand it will be alot of trouble for the Ministry and I mean alot." Charlie was looking intrigued by the idea of a dragon rampage.

The train came to abrupt halt at the current station as Harry turned around to join in the conversation but then closed his mouth, he hadnt talked much on the journey he was feeling a bit tired.

"I think you should keep your voices down its just Muggles aren't usually used to hearing about dragons, Death Eaters and Aurors." said Percy with the smallest smiles.

"Yeah well shouldn't be so bloody nosy should they." said Ron with a quick look out of the compartment window where a number of Muggles had gotten on the train. The three of them laughed and so did Harry as he rummaged in his pocket for a packet of Fizzing Whizbees.

"Actually I think Perce has a point, I'm sure I seen an elderly man giving you a strange look a few stations ago when we were talking about Quidditch, they'll think we're all mental." said Charlie as Harry handed him a Fizzing Whizbee.

"We're not mental." said Ron, "Well except for Fred and George." he added laughing.

"I heard that." came Freds' muffled voice.

"Yeah me too, you little..."

"I thought you were supposed to be asleep." interjected Ron, as the second Weasley twin stirred.

"People do wake up at some point Ron." said Fred as they laughed. Another couple of minutes passed as they talked and laughed, as Fred and George were awake theyre topics of conversation had become a bit more humorous. They were at a point of telling them about all the times in Hogwarts where they set off for night time strolls to the kitchens or the Prefects bathroom, ( in which Percy made a very disapproving noise ).

"Anyway.." Ron started after they had just laughed at Fred and George telling them about the time they met Luna Lovegood in the school kitchens, "It's good to see you laughing again Harry, are you alright mate you've hardly spoke all journey, liven up we're going to a party." he finished with a grin across his face.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired thats all, and c'mon Ron its like the tenth party we've been to in the past few weeks, you can't seriously be that excited." replied Harry.

"Harry has got a point, we have been to a fair few now." agreed Percy, as he packed his book into his rucksack and pulled out another one, Harry saw it was called, _Ministers for Magic: The Eighteenth Century._

"Yeah but still, its a party isn't it, and George didn't you say Dedalus always throws a good one." said Ron excitedly.

"What...Yeah" said George turning around, he and Fred had bewitched two pencils to joust each other in mid air, "Yes c'mon."

"Damn you always win at that." said Fred grinning. Percy opened is mouth to speak with a frown across his face, probably to tell Fred and George that it wasn't wise to play that sort of game on a Muggle train. However he must've guessed the twins would not have listened to him, so he buried his face in his book again.

"I know, makes up for the fact you always win at snowball wars." said George also grinning, "But yes Ron, Dedalus does always throw a hell of a party, Dad's told us loads of stories about how he and Mum have been to his house for celebrations." he added.

"Yeah so don't worry Harry this should be alot better than some of the other ones, for instance Hestia Jones' party.", Fred laughed to the others as he told Harry, "Apparently he has something good lined up this time, some _top notch_ entertainment as he would say, still I think he has got to do something unbelievably good to beat Lee Jordan.", and Harry gave them a smile whilst remembering Lee Jordans party, he had asked some famous wizard band to come and play the whole evening and he and his parents charmed some statues to walk around like waiters, it was the best party Harry had ever been to. Wizard parties of this magnitude were always spectacular compared to Muggle ones and the fact Dedalus had something entertaining in store, and the prospect that this party might be alright made him slightly more cheerful.

After another hour or so passed in which they learned from Fred and George how to be masters of pencil jousting, all of them were good enough wizards to actually charm their pencils of course, however their seemed to be much more skill involved than just charming your pencil into the air as George showed by winning for the eighth time in a row. The aim of the game was to knock all your opponents pencils out of the air whilst keeping yours upright, this was much more fun than it sounded, however Percy excluded himself from the game saying it was foolish when they were on a Muggle train. At the end of their tenth game, George and Harry were the only two with their pencils in the air.

"Not as easy as it looks is it." he said grinning after knocking Harrys' pencil out of the air, to become victorious again.

After a couple more games of pencil jousting they moved onto trying out Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans which Harry had bought two packets of the day before, Ron was unforunate to get marmite flavour one and Harry was sure he had gotten mustard. When they had finished eating the beans they moved on to discussing what was happening at the Ministry, Quidditch and other events happening in the wizarding world. They talked and talked, and due to Fred and George laughed alot too, when they were about 15 minutes away from the station they were getting off at, Percy looked up from his book whilst Ron was talking to Harry about how he would love a Hogwarts meal at the moment, Charlie and the twins were still talking about Quidditch.

"...I seriously could kill for one of their chicken legs, and the treacle tart, thats your favourite isn't it." he said with a longing look on his face and Harry nodded also thinking about the fantastic meals his old school served up.

"Ron." said Percy looking fairly thoughtful, "Where did you say Hermione was again?"

"She's visiting her parents." replied Ron "But i forgot to tell you why, I couldn't whilst Mum was listening it's Hermiones business not ours..."

"Such a thoughtful ickle boyfriend Ronnie is." laughed Fred as George gave a snort.

Ron stared at Fred and made a rude hand gesture which Fred responded with a mock look of outrage.

"You wouldn't do that if Mum was here." he replied to Rons' action.

"Anyway I sent her an owl saying that everyone was asking after her and she said it was alright to tell the truth.."

"I should bloody well think so aswell." interrupted George as Fred laughed.

"Will you two shut up for a second." snapped Percy, "Carry on Ron." he added ignoring the twins' pretending to look like 5 year olds who's parents had sent them to bed early.

"We're ever so sorry Perce." they both said in unison.

"Yes well I forgot to tell you, just before Harry, Hermione and I set off on our mission, she modified her parents memory to think that she was none existent and moved them to Australia so the Death Eaters didn't track them down..."

"_What?_" Ron was interrupted again but this time from Charlie, "Did she really? That must of been so hard for her, anything could of happened whilst she was away, it was an immense risk, although I do admit it was also very clever of her. I know you said she was intelligent but still." said Charlie looking surprised and sympathathetic towards Hermione. Charlie, because of his studying of dragons in Romania, hadn't spent as much time with Hermione and Harry as the rest of the Weasley family and was still getting to know them in great detail, although Harry suspected he already knew a fair bit about Harrys' personality from his mother who wrote to him reguarly whilst he was in Romania. Nobody in the room was too surprised at Hermione's clever plan other than Charlie who _had_ known she was clever, but its something about knowing Hermione very well for nearly 8 years that nothing she does seems to surprise you much anymore thought Harry.

"Yeah but that's Hermione, she's amazing at times isn't she Harry," said Ron, and Harry nodded, Ron contiued, "Well she's went back to them to remodify their memory so that their back to normal and to think that nothing has happened, also she said she wanted to spend a few weeks with them as she hasn't seen them properly in like a year." Ron finished and looked out the window. Harry was sure Ron was thinking about Hermione all the way in Australia with her parents, or maybe they had moved back in the country, all Harry knew was that Hermione was due at the Burrow in a few weeks time to spend the rest of summer with them. After fairly long silence Charlie spoke again.

"It will have took some very well practised magic to do a memory charm that effective, I'll be very impressed if she has pulled it off successfully." said Charlie looking slightly concerned, " I think we're here now too, Dad said to cross the bridge to the other platform and meet them at the entrance."

They all picked there bags and rubbish up and moved along to the end of the train. Muggles were giving Ron a very peculiar looks as he had pulled his wand out his back pocket and started polishing it on his sweater, then holding it up in front of his eyes to examine it.

"It's always dirty this thing." he said rather stupidly.

"Ron." hissed Percy, "Ron put it away."

It took Ron a second to realise what he was doing then he hastily put it in his back pocket again, stammering his apologies to rest of them.

"Seriously, Ron how thick are you, lets pull my wand out on train full of Muggles, what a good idea why don't we all do it." said Fred mimicking Ron pulling his wand out, as they got onto the platform and started to head towards a vast bridge which connected both platforms. They walked along with the bustling crowd of Muggles towards the large bridge.

"Well I forgot we were on a Muggle train, sorry ok, they didn't notice, how are they gonna know its a wand, it would have just looked like a bit of wood to them, which is why they were looking at me wierd." said Ron looking sheepish but then building up a defence mid-conversation.

"How could you forget you were on a Muggle train?" laughed George, as he gave Fred an incredulous look, Fred shrugged and was about to say something when Percy cut in.

"Will you three stop bickering" snapped Percy, "And don't talk about wands in a Muggle train station for crying out loud." he added looking annoyed. At this Fred, George and Ron made a silly face behind Percy back.

"C'mon Mum, Dad, Bill and Ginny should be just over this bridge." said Charlie trying to divert their minds to finding the rest of the Weasley family.

They walked up the stairs and along the bridge and then down some more stairs, and there they were at the entrance to the station, Mrs Weasley gave a cheery wave then tapped the others on the shoulder and pointed to where Harry, Ron, Charlie, Percy and the twins were coming down the stairs towards them. Mrs Weasley pulled each of her sons into a tight hug then turned to Harry and hugged him too.

"Hello Harry dear, how was the journey, did you eat enough, did you get some sleep." she said in her warm caring voice.

"Yes Mrs Weasley, I'm fine thank you." replied Harry returning her warm smile. Harry then turned to Ginny and she pulled him into a hug too. It was cormforting to be reminded of how nice her hair smelled.

"Wheres Dad." said Charlie as Harry and Ginny pulled apart and looked around. For Mr Weasley had disappeared from the entrance to the station, for a moment Harry thought he had Disapparated but then looked behind him and saw Mr Weasley walking forwards towards the platform staring open mouthed at one of the trains that had just pulled in.

"Dad what are you doing?" said Ron looking fairly puzzled.

"Arthur not now, we have to go" Mrs Weasley said looking stern. Mr Weasley turned around looking amazed.

"Just give me a minute Molly dear, this is utterly _fantastic_, I love trains Harry," he said turning to Harry, "I bet it takes a big battery to operate this one eh?"

"Well..." began Harry. He was about to explain that batteries didn't motivate trains and that it was an engine but Mrs Weasley cut across him.

"_Arthur_, hurry now c'mon we have to go, _now._" she said looking exasperated at her husbands interest in the train.

"Dad I don't get it, you've seen the Hogwarts Express, it's just the same, it's a train." said Ron looking amused at his father.

"Yes Ron, but the Hogwarts Express is operated by magic, the driver merely sits in his cabin and reads or does whatever comforts him, this however is outstanding, to see trains built and operated by Muggles who have no magic and have to do things by themselves, by hand, is just amazing, I think I find these more interesting than plugs to be honest." he said beaming. Harry knew that Mr Weasley loved everything to do with Muggle technology and could not help but supress a grin towards Ron and Ginny as they turned in his direction looking at him bewildered.

"Now Arthur come on get a grip of yourself, stop fooling around, we have to hurry." Mrs Weasley said, she was looking pretty annoyed now and Mr Weasley seemed to have noticed because he turned around and walked towards his wife.

"Yes of course, just a bit interested that's all, sorry Molly dear, shall we get going then, Dedalus' house is about forty-five minutes from here, its over the hill and along the path, normally we'de apparate but, your mother and I decided it would be nice to have a walk." he said beaming again, "Now Harry, tell me, how big _is_ the battery that motivates those trains." he added as they walked over the hill and towards the long path that lead by some fields. Harry laughed as Mrs Weasley shook her head muttering something about madness and she walked forwards to Bill and started trying to persuade him to give his hair a trim.

"Mum, Bill's hair looks really cool, leave him alone." said Ginny laughing, "Anyway, Bill, where's Fleur? Is she not coming?" she added.

"No unfortunatly, I tried to persuade her but she said that all these parties are tiring her out, poor thing, I expect her to be asleep when I get in." replied Bill. Harry turned to Mr Weasley and answered his previous question.

"Well, Mr Weasley, it isn't a battery that operates them, it's an engine." explained Harry, thinking Mr Weasley probably knew about an engine just not that it was used in all vehicles.

"Ahhh of course," sighed Mr Weasley still looking rather amazed and cheerful, "I love engines too, although I do get mixed up on which machines use them and which don't, still I'd love to know how they work Harry." he said looking at Harry with alot of interest on his face, and Harry explained all about how engines actually worked as they walked along the path leading to Dedalus Diggles' household., he could feel a sense of excitement now as they approached the party, maybe George was right, maybe this _would_ be a great party and is mood lifted even more as he and Ron's father moved their conversation onto aeroplanes. As they walked along the path for about half an hour, Harry was now at the front of the group along with Ron, Bill and Charlie. They were talking about the dragon incident in Swansea again when they heard Mr Weasley shout over to them.

"Bill, its just over another hill to the left there, about another 5-10 minutes I think and you should be able to see dear Dedalus' house." he said smiling and turned back to talk to Percy and Mrs Weasley. Fred and George were lingering at the back of the group and kept making things explode with their wands, and charming sticks to hit each.

"Anyway as I was saying, if dragons start going on a rampage all around the country, the Ministry will have a lot of work on their hands, Harry if you thought that Horntail was bad, you should see some of the wilder ones we had to deal with in Romania." Charlie said as they continued there discussion on dragons.

"Do you know whats upsetting the dragons, what is making them so restless, I mean what normally disturbs them?" asked Bill.

"Normally, if wizards or Muggles stumble across them they do will get agitated, also if they're food and water supplies are low they tend to wonder about and more often than not they come across human civilisation." replied Charlie, and Harry admired how much he knew about dragons, Harry had always been interested in them even if he didn't like the fact they could easily kill you if you met one.

"But that's been happening for ages, I mean those things could happen at any time couldn't they, it's got to be something else that's disrupting them hasn't it?" asked Ron looking slightly anxious.

"That is true Ron, but the only other possibility I can think of now and it also relates to why they're being aggressive and not just wandering around, is perhaps territorial behaviour." said Charlie, and as he said this Bill looked really worried. Harry and Ron looked at each other not worried but pretty confused.

"But territorial behaviour, they're aren't enough dragons in the country for them to take up all the land, there is plenty of room for territory, isn't there?" asked Ron, still looking confused, and then it hit Harry as Charlie spoke.

"Yes that's right, which is why there hasn't been territory trouble for years. But as you said there aren't enough in _this _country. It is possible that dragons from other countries have been flying over here to live." said Charlie, "But that's only a suggestion, since I have studied them for so long I know it would be unusual for them to fly out their own country, but it's a very slight possibility, although a very bad one." he added.

At this Ron looked fairly frightened and he spoke.

"But if foreign dragons are coming over then there'll be even more dragon attacks won't there, and not just form British species." said Ron in a hushed voice.

"Well, trust me if there were many foreign dragons in the country at the moment we would definatly know, they wouldn't know whats countryside and whats civilisation so they could pop up anywhere." said Charlie, "However some foreign dragons aren't as bad as the British ones, I know fine well that the Swedish Short Snout isn't as bad as the Common Welsh Green, and most certainly not as bad as the Hebridean Black. Hebridean Blacks never come out to humans but they dislike human civilisation a lot, they gave medieval settlements alot of trouble centuries ago. They've sort of backed down since then but are all the more vicious for it. I can imagine them going on a rampage if any foreign dragons intefere with their territory." said Charlie, this was the most Harry had ever heard about dragons even after facing one in his fourth year, Charlie then continued, "There is one dragon I would love to see come here, that's if anything like this actually does happen if any dragons do start flying over here which I seriously doubt, but its nearly impossible to find one."

"You sound like Hagrid." interrupted Ron looking at Charlie bewildered, "Charlie it's a _dragon_," he said flapping his arms and twisting his face, "It eats people it blows fire and burns stuff." Harry and Bill laughed.

"Ron I'm talking about the Antipodean Opaleye, it never eats humans or attacks things that don't provoke it, it will even flee when attacked rather than fight back. However they're extremely rare and live in New Zealand so I can't imagine them coming here." said Charlie looking slightly disappointed.

"Thank god. I don't want any more dragons in this country, even if it is an Apdodidum Popeye or whatever it was." said Ron looking at Harry. Charlie was looking up at the sky apparently lost in thought. Then Bill spoke.

"Charlie, if foreign dragons do move over here you don't think Horntails or Fireballs would make it do you." he said.

"Well I can imagine the Horntail coming over it's vicious attitude would suit the situation, and as Hungary isn't too far from here..." at this Ron let out a long groan, "However if I were you I'd be more worried about Chinese Fireballs, fair enough one on one the Horntail would slaughter it, and brutally, however Fireballs nearly always seem travel in groups for some reason and if they come over here they will be more likely to stick together and attack native dragons or other invading dragons, rather than themselves." said Charlie, it really was amazing how much he knew about dragons and their behaviour. Harry stared at him as did Bill, Ron started fiddling with his hands, although they were all clearly in awe of Charlie, for obviously his brothers and Harry knew he studied dragons but Bill and Ron were impressed with how much he actually knew. He had clearly studies long and hard, and was very passionate.

Bill looked at Charlie and said, "When I came to visit you few years ago in Romania, didn't your friend say that the Chinese Ministry had alot of trouble controlling the Fireballs ages ago?"

"Ohh yeah he did, Lenny was always good for information, he always hears stuff like that and he reads alot," responded Charlie, "Yeah he told me later on about how there had been reports of attacks, and one of them had been on a wizard town, the inhabitants tried to hold the creature off but were so brutally attacked they had to hide out admist destruction. Well the Chinese Ministry were confused to find out how so many wizards could'nt hold off one dragon so they sent a fair few of there men to investigate and help out. When they got there they found that there were about five Fireballs attacking the town, only three of the Ministry workers got away as the rest were killed, they got to the Ministry headquarters and told the Minister what had sent some more workers and I don't know exactly how but they finally fought the dragons away but there were other attacks around the country, not as bad as the one on that town but still this was a time when dragons were still active and they had a lot of trouble with them, its all written in books in China, I think in some detailed dragon books that you can find here, if you look at the history of them it will have that event in there somewhere." he finished.

"Are there still attacks in China?" asked Harry.

"Not many, maybe a couple a year or less of a small magnitude, the dragons have been driven away and hide in the mountains like in Britain." said Charlie, "All of this we've been talking about though, this makes dragons sound really bad and everything, these are some of the most savage of their kind we are talking about. All dragons are formidable when provoked, just some attack as an instinct or for no reason at all, its in their nature, and I doubt highly whether dragons will become that active again." he finished looking at them. Bill was looking at Charlie in great respect, Ron was looking as if he would like nothing better than to get out the country, and Harry could not help but smile at the knowledge that Charlie had, he was indeed a very clever young man, and his time in Romania certainly hadn't gone to waste.

"You say dragons will never be that active again, well what about that bloody dragon invasion from the other species you were going on about before?" said Ron as he looked at Charlie scared at the idea of dragons becoming active again.

"Ron I did say that was a very slight possibility, you shouldn't worry too much, I very highly doubt it will happen, what I have told you is about the feircest of dragons and their attacks, I wouldn't be surprised if them dragons were dead now, although I don't pretend there will be some other savage ones out there. Its all stories and almost myth." said Charlie looking almost amused by Ron's expression.

"But it still happened." he mumbled.

"Look Ron put the dragons out of your head, and you can start worrying when or if the Ministry informs us all of unrecognised dragon species entering the country." said Bill smiling.

"Like the Ministry's going to inform us all of dragon invasions." laughed Ron.

"Ron, this is Kingsley in charge now not Fudge or Scrimgeour. He wouldn't let something like that go unoticed." said Bill looking at Ron.

"Yeah, I s'pose." muttered Ron. They had walked a considerable distance now and Harry would have been tired and bored had it not been for their discussion on dragons. Whilst Ron may have put the dragons to the back of his mind, Harry could not help but dwell on the terrible possibilities of a dragon war. Then he shook himself, he was being silly, Charlie had said it was a very small possibility. And as they walked up another hill Harry's mouth fell open as he heard Mr Weasley shout,

"Here we are!"

"Wow!" cried Ron looking amazed.

"Excellent." said the twins together.

They were looking at a house at the bottom of the hill which had a very large garden with a very large number of people in it. The house itself looked spectacular, it was white with a grey roofing, it had colour changing lights lit all around it. On the second floor there was a balcony with rows of sofas and amazing plants. There were thirty or so people standing on the balcony laughing and some pointed where Harry and the Weasleys stood and waved. Harry waved and looked down into the garden as sparks were flying everywhere, as laughter and shouting could be heard from down below. As they walked down the hill towards the front gate Harry thought to himself, George was right this _was _going to be one hell of a party and Dedalus Diggle had certainly stepped up to the occasion. Harry smiled to himself as Ron clapped him on the back. Dragons had now been pushed right out of his mind and he braced himself for one of the best nights of his life as he saw the little figure of Dedalus Diggle hurrying to the front gate, his hat toppling on his head, as he exitedly came to greet them.

**Thanks for reading people, thats just the first chapter, I will be doing more because I have finished school now and have lots of free time ahead of me until September I shall work on the more of the story as i progress but I know it won't be as long as any of the originals even the Philsophers Stone. I decided to include alot about Charlie and his knowledge of dragons later on in the chapter as you never really found out about his personality much in the other books. Sorry if i made any mistakes, I will correct them if you point them out and I hope i've done alright for my first taste of Fan Fiction. So please review.**


	2. Chapter 2: A Night to Remember

"Arthur you're here!" cried Dedalus. He shook Mr Weasleys hand then pulled him into a friendly one armed hug.

"Hello Dedalus, I see you have the party thriving as always." said Mr Weasley smiling as Dedalus released him.

"Of course Arthur, I think after all thats happened we do need a good party." laughed Dedalus, "Ah Molly dear, how have you been, it's been too long." he added turning to Mrs Weasley and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Harry looked around and saw some more people Apparating on the hills. He squinted to see who was walking towards them and was slightly surprised to see Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout and Professor Slughorn and more of Hogwarts teachers. As they passed Professor McGonagall gave him a small smile as the rest nodded their greetings in his direction.

"Dedalus, I must say this does look spectacular." cried Slughorn and the teachers walked into the vast garden to join the others. Dedalus smiled and looked back around to Mr Weasley.

"Dedalus let me introduce you to the rest of my family." said Mr Weasley with a smile, "You've met Bill my eldest, I believe."

"Yes, yes hello my dear boy." said Dedalus shaking Bills' hand.

"And heres Charlie, he went to Romania to study dragons after he left Hogwarts."

"Fascinating, how very interesting, dragons you say, very interesting indeed, well hello Charlie."

"Hello Mr Diggle." replied Charlie grinning.

"This is Percy, he was Head Boy in his time at Hogwarts and now works in the Ministry." said Mr Weasley pointing at Percy.

"I say, I say, very good indeed." said Dedalus looking at Percy, "May I ask which department is it where you work, Percy?"

"Mr Diggle," said Percy nodding, "Yes it is the Department of International Magical Co-operation." added Percy puffing out his chest ever so slightly to give that feel of importance. Fred and George gave snorts of laughter and then quickly straightened themselves up at the stern look Mrs Weasley was giving them.

"Ah yes, and this is Fred." said Mr Weasley pointing at Fred who gave a nod, "And this is George." pointing at George who also nodded.

"So twins eh, your father tells me you two are quite the jokers, got up to all sorts in your time at Hogwarts." said Dedalus chuckling.

"Dad how could you, we have never, ever set one foot out of line whilst we were in our education." cried George whilst shaking Dedalus' hand. The others laughed, even Mrs Weasley and Percy.

"Anyway, how do you do Mr Diggle." said Fred shaking his hand.

"I'm doing spectaclular m'boy, so what is it you two do then?" laughed Dedalus.

"We have our own joke shop on Diagon Alley." said Fred looking at George with a proud expression.

"Mr Diggle you should drop by sometime, we will certainly give you special discount for your wonderful effort at this party." said George looking at Fred who nodded his approval.

"That I will boys, that I will."

"You never gave me special discount and I'm your brother." cried Ron looking at them incredulously.

"This is my youngest son, Ronald." said Mr Weasley as Fred opened his mouth to speak.

"Hello there Ronald boy."

"Please, call me Ron." said Ron shaking Dedalus' hand as he gave a gave Fred and George a sarcastic look, they had started sniggering behind Dedalus' back at the use of Rons' proper name.

"This is my only daughter, Ginny." said Mr Weasley, and Dedalus shook Ginny's hand smiling at her.

"And this Dedalus my friend, is..." started Mr Weasley.

"_Harry Potter_." said Dedalus Diggle loudly, beaming at Harry, "This whole entire party, because of you. We all sleep safely in our beds because of you Harry m'boy."

"Hello Mr Diggle." said Harry smiling and shaking his hand.

"Please Harry call me Dedalus. All of you call me Dedalus." he said beaming at all of them, "Now, lets join the party, I shall be back to talk to you Arthur but for the moment I have to go and see Mundungus Fletcher." he added giving Mr Weasley a wink, and he walked through the garden and into the house.

Harry looked around the garden, there were white marble statues in each corner near the green hedges that surrounded the inner line of the garden. There was a buffet to Harrys left and to his right he saw five large rectangular wooden tables lined up with chairs, a number of witches and wizards sat eating and drinking, laughing with one another. A few of them pointed to Harry and he looked away. The longer he spent in the marvelous garden the more he realised that he knew a large majority of the people in it. He was just about to turn to talk to Ron when Fred said, "Me and George are going to go and find Lee Jordan, we'll see you later."

"OK, see you in abit then." replied Ron as the twins walked off.

"Mum, you don't mind if me and Harry walk around do you." Ron asked Mrs Weasley.

"Not at all dear, try and stay out of trouble will you." said Mrs Weasley with a smile. Harry and Ron headed towards the front door as Ginny came hurrying up to catch them up.

"She always thinks the worst she does" Ron muttered to Harry, "Anyway Ginny what are you doing."

"Well Mum, Dad, Bill and Charlie have went to talk to some people from the Ministry, I'm not exactly going to be interested by their conversation, and Percy has gone to find Penelope." said Ginny.

"I don't see how Penelope can put up with Percy, in fact I don't see how she's still with him at all." said Ron in a surprised voice.

"Ron, Percy isn't _that _bad." said Ginny giving him a strange look as though pitying Percy.

"Is Penelope good looking Ron." said Harry with mild interest.

"Harry!" shouted Ginny elbowing him in the ribs.

"I was just asking Ginny," laughed Harry massaging his ribs, "I haven't seen her since our third year."

"Yeah she's alright." said Ron laughing.

Harry, Ron and Ginny walked around the garden a while in which they had spoken to many of their old school friends and older people they knew. These included Oliver Wood, Harrys' former Quidditch captain, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell, all also on the Gryffindor Quidditch team from Harry's first to fifth year. They met Mundungus Fletcher who tried to sell them all sorts of contraband from inside his coat.

"Well how about my very own recipe of Pumpkin Juice mixed with Butterbeer eh?" he said as they walked away saying goodbye, "Your twin brothers bought some, c'mon." he called after them. They saw Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan sitting on at one of the corner tables of the garden, they sat and talked to them for a while before going inside to sit down. They decided to walk upstairs and found a couple of armchairs on the upstairs hall next to a huge bookcase. The three of them sat down and looked towards a large door which lead onto the balcony where they could see McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn and Sprout talking to a group of wizards Harry did not know. After a few minutes Ginny stood up and asked if they wanted drinks from the bar Dedalus had set up downstairs, both Harry and Ron asked for Butterbeers and she headed downstairs.

"Well George was right, this is a really good party, and we've only been here about an hour." said Ron as he looked around impressively.

"Yeah he was, I mean Hestia Jones' party was worse than the one at the Slug Club." said Harry and Ron laughed. Ron always liked slandering Professor Slughorns 'Slug Club', Harry thought it was mostly because he and Hermoine had been invited to all of the gatherings and Ron had been overlooked.

"Slug Club, did I just hear Slug Club." came a booming voice form behind them as Horace Slughorn came marching towards them with a wide smile on his face. Ron snorted and picked up a cushion to hide his laughter, "Harry m'boy how are you?, Doing well I hope, it really is fantastic to see you again."

"Hi Professor." said Harry quickly hoping Slughorn hadn't heard exactly what he had said about the Slug Club. The Slug Club was Slughorn's group at Hogwarts where he invited handpicked students for little get togethers. The students he picked had grown to become great witches and wizards and had either been very talented, clever or famous, hence Harry's inclusion.

"So, have you just been telling your friend here about the Slug Club, wonderful times Harry, wonderful." said Slughorn cheerfully and Harry's unsaid question about whether Slughorn had heard him was answered, "Well, I'll leave you and Mr Weasley to talk away as I must head downstairs. See you Harry." he said as he walked towards the staircase.

"Ron did you have to sit their and laugh all the way through he was talking." said Harry half laughing.

"Come on Harry, he didn't notice." said Ron still laughing.

"What are you two laughing at, what did I miss?" came Ginny's voice. She had re-appeared and had charmed three cups of Butterbeer to follow her. She swished her wand and they landed gently on the table.

"Nothing." said Ron with a straight face this time, "What took you so long anyway?"

"I bumped into Mum, she was asking where you two were so I told her I was with you and just getting some Butterbeers." said Ginny.

"Butterbeers!"

"Would you three not like something abit, well, alot stronger?"

The twins had came upstairs and had heard Ginny.

"What do you mean something stronger?" asked Ron looking at them with interest.

"Look." said George excitedly, he pointed at something George was getting out his coat pocket. Harry saw a bottle of what he recognized as Firewhiskey.

"Firewhiskey isn't that strong." said Ron, looking a little disappointed.

"My dear brother look closely, this isn't Firewhiskey, this is the new Firewhiskey Plus." whispered Fred, "It's a lot stronger than that old normal stuff and also comes in different flavours too, this bottle is cherry." he added looking at it proudly.

"So would you like a glass?" asked George looking at them with a huge grin on his face, he looked from Harry to Ron and then to Ginny.

Ron turned to Harry and said, "So what d'you reckon, should we give it a shot."

Harry thought for a moment, he had known Fred and George for almost 8 years now and although they were well known pranksters and did stuff that he hardly believed, he knew that they would never do anything to seriously hurt him, their brother and sister.

"Yeah go on then." replied Harry grinning at Ron. George gave them both a mischievious smile and poured out their glasses.

"That's the spirit boys." the twins chorused.

"Ginny?" asked Fred as he turned his head towards her.

"Hehem no thanks." she said laughing.

"Your loss Sis." said Ron.

"Errm I wouldn't let Mum see you with that either." said Ginny, sounding almost Hermione-ish.

"Oh yes of course, me and George were just about to go downstairs with Ron and Harry here and wave the Firewhiskey Plus in front of her face." said George looking at her as if she were immensely stupid. Harry and Ron laughed and so did Ginny then she muttered "Well I'm just warning you, if she catches you." with a face as if to say, I would not want to be there if she does. Harry gave her a warm smile which she returned.

"Right you two, you ready, on the count of three down it." said Fred looking at Harry and Ron as if to say, you had better be ready for _this._

"And a little pointer, do NOT take little gulps, or then you'll be hit by it at different times and you really don't want that." instructed George, "Just one quick, complete drain of the glass."

"Three..." started George as Ginny lifted turned around she had been watching a few little fairies dancing around by an impressive looking plant.

"Two..." counted Fred, Harry took a firm grasp on his glass. For some reason the twins had stopped counting and they looked at each other in wierd expressions. As if expecting one of them to put their glass down and back out.

"One..." said Ginny in an almost suggestive voice smiling.

"GO." the twins cried.

Harry drained his glass and slammed it onto the table, Ron slammed his half a second later smashing his glass. Harry didn't care that glass had just sprayed all over his face or that Ginny was giving him a highly amused look, because a feeling Harry had never felt had just seared his throat. He looked at Ron who's eyes were wide, he was clearly experiencing the same sensation. The Firewhiskey Plus burned and burned his throat, he was incapable of speech it was so bad. The feeling moved down to his stomach and he keeled over in his chair.

"Harry?" came Ginny's voice. She sounded amused however slightly worried.

"You alright mate?" said Fred giving his twin a look of surprise.

Harry didn't reply he just sat there with that same feeling that someone had just set a fire in his stomach, then suddenly taking Harry by surprise the feeling vanished and with it left a taste in Harry's mouth like none he had ever tasted. He looked at Ron who slid down his chair with a dreamy look on his face. The taste in Harry's mouth got stronger and stronger and he realised it was cherry. He sat there with the same dreamy look that Ron had on his face.

"I'm guessing you've hit the cherry phase, pretty wicked eh?" said George laughing.

"That was bloody brilliant!" exclaimed Ron, he stared at Harry amazed, "Wasn't it Harry?"

"Well, the beginning was, _slightly _uncomfortable_._" replied Harry grinning. Ron snorted with laughter and said, "Well you could say that."

"Unbelievable this stuff." said Fred shaking the bottle, "Me and George are thinking of using it in some of our products."

"Yeah." said George looking at them, he wiggled his eyebrows enthusiastically, "Fancy a Dragonfire Peppermint."

The five of them laughed as Harry imagined some Hogwarts first year trying this latest Weasley invention.

"But Ron you should have seen your face, you looked like you did the time you tried to curse Malfoy with that Slug-Vomitting spell." said Fred as George and Harry roared with laughter.

"Shut it.." said Ron laughing in an embarrassed sort of way. They sat and laughed and talked in their armchairs, as more people came to greet them, Neville Longbottom being the first to do so, he arrived some hours after them and not knowing they were here stumbled across them whilst on the way to the toilet. Cho Chang a former Ravenclaw and Harry's old girlfriend passed and greeted Harry with a warm smile and twinkle in her eye (Ginny made a very disapproving noise as she kissed Harry on the cheek and walked off). They also saw Hagrid as he too came upstairs to go to the toilet, Harry shouted him over and he sat with them for at least twenty minutes before bading them farewell and going downstairs into the garden. Harry was having the time of his life, sat up on Dedalus Diggle's upstairs landing, in a comfy armchair with his bestfriend, girlfriend, and their twin brothers, the two funniest and cheerful people Harry had ever met. The party was still thriving as it hit midnight and by this time all five of them were feeling fairly tipsy, due to a couple more shots of Firewhiskey Plus (even Ginny tried one this time) and their topics of conversation got more ridiculous and warped by the minute. They had just finished discussing their own Veela fantasies, in which Ginny told them hers was to have all of them thrown in a group of giants, when Fred and George got up, stumbling slightly.

"Well, I think it's time we went back downstairs to see Lee, we _need_ to get him to try this stuff." said George pointing at the bottle of Firewhiskey Plus.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he tries it." said Fred grinning broadly, "Well see you three when its time to leave I suppose."

"Hey, wait." Ron called after them, "I'll come downstairs with you I haven't spoken to Lee in a while, is that alright with you Harry?" asked Ron.

"What, yeah course." said Harry nodding and the three Weasley brothers went downstairs. So Harry was alone with Ginny now, it had been a long time since they had been. He looked at Ginny as she was sitting gazing at the bookcase. Harry looked at Ginny and thought to himself just how beautiful she actually was, maybe it was the Firewhiskey and the good mood he was in but Harry looked at her longingly, she was perfect.

"What are you staring at?" she asked smiling to herself. Harry had just realised he had of course been staring at her for several minutes now.

"What?...Oh nothing." said Harry, blushing slightly.

"I'm off to the bathroom, won't be long_._" she got up and gave Harry a small wink and as she walked past him she ruffled his hair. She had disappeared behind the door now and Harry stood up. He didn't know whether it was instinct or not but he walked into the bathroom after her. As he pushed open the door he saw her looking in the mirror, with a frown on her face. Harry smiled.

"There's no need to worry, you look beautiful." said Harry, it was the first time he had complimented a girl properly. She turned to look at him and said, "You boys are so predictable, how did I know you would follow." she said grinning. This was not a normal grin, it was not joking or playful, it was more inviting. Harry moved closer and moved his arms around her waist.

"Came to, errm, see if you were, okay, and stuff." said Harry half embarrassed. He looked at her, her eyes fixed upon his, he thought he'd be nervous, but there was something about Ginny that washed away all his nerves, his fear of anything left him.

"I love you." she said. And Harry knew it to be true by look in her eye. Her lips locked onto his and he was kissing Ginny like he had never before. He moved his hands from her waist and lifted her leg up as she rested against the wall. His mouth moved onto the soft skin of her neck and he smelled the lush scent that was her hair. One of his hands ran through it softly as the other moved up and around her leg. Suddenly the door burst open and they both gasped as the stumbling figure of Ron walked in.

"Harry there y..." he started, "OH FOR MERLINS SAKE." he shouted looking aghast. He looked from Ginny to Harry and then back again.

Harry tried to explain "Ron I'm..."

"I _really _did NOT need to see that." he cried giving a shudder and looking away, "That is to cut it short revolting."

"Sorry I mean..." Harry started again.

"Could you at least let go of each other so I can tell you what I came here for." he interrupted taking his hands away from his face.

"What? Oh. Sorry." Harry bumbled as he let go of Ginny, he was slightly annoyed to see she giggling.

"We're leaving in five minutes, so yeah, errm, hurry." he muttered and he walked out the door as quickly as he could, Harry heard his last words, "Oh no, Harry, Ginny, there then, clear your mind Ron, clear your mind..." and Ginny laughed. Harry looked at her awkwardly.

"Well I suppose we better go downstairs." he suggested.

"Yeah I suppose so." said Ginny still with that mischeivious grin on her face, "Trust Ron to interrupt, well, spose he cant help it." she said winking at him and trailing her hand across his stomach and he felt it leap energetically. He had to admit he had never been so disappointed to see his best friend in his life, than there and then as he burst into the bathroom.

The two of them walked downstairs and were greeted by the rest of the Weasley family and Dedalus. Judging by Ron's expression he was still having flashbacks of Harry and Ginny in the bathroom. Harry was pleased to see that the rest of the Weasley family were oblivious to what had gone on and Harry gave a sigh of relief as he, Hermione, and the Weasley family bid farewell to Dedalus and his guests.

"Dear Arthur, it was splendid of you and Molly to turn up, really was, and of course your delightful children and Harry." he cheered smiling.

"It was our pleasure Dedalus, thank you for throwing such a wonderful event." replied Mr Weasley cheerfully.

"You will drop by sometime soon I hope, all of you."

"We'll be sure to try Dedalus." said Mrs Weasley smiling and they all walked one by one out of the front gate. Harry looked back and saw that the party was indeed still lively, three students from Hogwarts he recognized as fifth years were dancing on the balcony wildy. He smiled to himself and turned around and walked through the gate to the others.

"Well, to home Harry." smiled Mrs Weasley, as Harry and his favourite family in the world Disapparated back to the Burrow, back to his new home.

**Hope you liked it, please review and I'll start on the next Chapter right away. I started this story originally about a year ago, however I stopped as I thought the plot I had lined up was too far fetched and wasnt solid enough, it consisted of a huge dragon war due to some dark chinese wizard hahahaha I have came up with a brand new one this past week however, and in my head it seems nothing short of epic (I hope), hopefully I can get my ideas into writing, which I seem to struggle with. Also please review and I shall reply to each review with what I thought of it, thanks :)**


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